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Massachusetts Democrats map reelection routes

Rep. Richard Neal has had a seat in Congress since the late 1980s. |
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The map, which was released by a joint legislative redistricting committee, is not final, but it is already having ripple effects across the state, complicating the political fortunes of several other members.

Democratic Rep. William Keating announced that he would run for a newly crafted, Cape Cod-area seat, bypassing a 2012 race against Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch, with whom he was drawn into the same South Boston-based district.

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The decision offers Keating his clearest path to reelection. Running against Lynch would have been a tall order for Keating, forcing the freshman to compete against his more senior colleague in a heavily blue-collar area that is well oriented to Lynch’s socially conservative record. Keating owns a summer home in the Cape Cod area.

“I hope that the residents of my current district — from Quincy to Provincetown and the islands — know that their well-being is my primary concern and nothing changes that,” Keating said in a statement announcing his decision, which he said he reached after a discussion with his family. “I look forward to continuing to represent the people I’m currently serving as well as the new communities that will be a part of this district in the future.”

Democratic Rep. John Tierney, a veteran member who currently occupies a solidly Democratic, North Shore-area seat, would run for reelection in a new district that encompasses several new areas, including Wilmington and Bedford, home to a swath of independent voters. Tierney survived an unexpectedly competitive race in 2010 against Republican Bill Hudak, who highlighted a scandal involving Tierney’s wife, Patrice, who in October 2010, pleaded guilty to charges that she helped her brother, a federal fugitive, file false tax returns.

For much of the delegation, however, the draft plan is incumbent-friendly. It would create safe districts for several members of the delegation, including Reps. Niki Tsongas, Michael Capuano and Jim McGovern, all of whom would run for reelection in heavily Democratic areas. Two senior Democrats, Reps. Barney Frank and Ed Markey, are also drawn into safe Democratic areas.

“It’s going to be a good incumbent-protection map,” said Scott Ferson, a Democratic consultant who works for Lynch.

The map is expected to be completed as soon as next week. Democrats control all levers of redistricting in the state, and party insiders say it is unlikely there will be dramatic changes when the final map is drawn.

Readers' Comments (1)

Who cares about Democrats in Massachusetts? I mean, just look at the Liberal Democrat Martha Coakley and the Liberal Democratic mayor of Boston, and then there is the disgraceful Liberal Democrat Barney Frank. Then we've got a RHINO Republican in Name Only Scott Brown, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, like the City of Chicago, is practically controlled and dictated to by a bunch of Liberal Democratic cronies. Then there is the case of homosexual marriage coming out of Massachusetts, etc. Who needs it? Vote Republican and go as far to the right as possible. It's the only way to counter the hideous Left Wing of the Democratic Party.